March General Ziaul
Haq (seen here behind President Fazal Ilahi and Prime Minister Bhutto)
has been appointed Chief of the Army Staff to replace outgoing Tikka Khan.

The appointment is seen as unusual, since Zia superceded
8 seniors (who must now retire). This through special intervention of
Prime Minister Bhutto, who has apparently beginning to find the ever smiling
and humble Ziaul Haq useful.

While the public sector enterprises have created a strong
base for future large-scale industrialisation, mass nationalisation of
big business seems to have broken down the confidence of the private sector
and crippled its performance. The overall economic policy of the Bhutto
years seems to be characterised by regulation, subsidies and mismanagement.

People's property

July 15 The Prime Minister has announced nationalisation
of all privately owned cotton-ginning, paddy-husking and flour-milling
units. Referring to his earlier promise that there would be no more nationalisation,
the PM claimed that "the units which have come under the state control
do not belong to the industrial sector they are an integral part
of our agricultural economy."

Leader of the Third World?

Bhutto has launched invitations to a number of the Third
World countries for a Third World Summit he proposes to hold soon at the
beginning of his anticipated second tenure as the Prime Minister.

100
YEARS OF JINNAH

January 1. Prime Minister Bhutto inaugurates the
Quaid Centenary celebrations today, as the year marks the 100th Birth
Centenary of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation.

Quaid-i-Azam Academy, headed by Professor Sharif al Mujahid,
is taking a lead in producing memorabilia and publications about Jinnah.

Environmental commitments

Pakistan has signed the Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance (1971), popularly known as Ramsar Convention, and the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (1973),
popularly known as CITES.

Keeping the commitments implied by these conventions is
another story, however. It seems that in the absence of a general environmental
conscience the country will require a strong pressure group from volunteer
organizations to act as watchdogs over the government. With the exception
of the World Wildlife Fund Pakistan, such pressure groups do not exist
in the country yet.

On a note of optimism, there is the recently formed division
of Environment and Urban Affairs (EUAD) in the Ministry of Housing and
Works. How effective a role it plays in the conservation of natural resources
of the country is something only time can tell.

Burning Issue

First Balochi film, Hamalo Mah Gunj, could not
be released as an angry mob in Quetta burns down cinema hall

Falling off the mountain

Javed Jabbar's Beyond the Last Mountain, released
December 2, is Pakistans first venture into English film making
and seems destined to be its last.

The film as well as its Urdu version, Musafir,
have flopped at the box office. Produced and directed by Javed Jabbar;
music by Sohail Rana; starring Usman Peerzada, Zahoor Ahmad, Subhani Bayounus,
Raja Jameel.

Home movies

The video cassette player, or VCR, is making its mark
all over the country. There are no laws regulating its import, making
the VCR illegal. The films most popular on the video circuit are Indian
blockbuster such as Sholay, and also classics such as Mughal-e-Azam. It
is not uncommon for an entire neighbourhood to contribute towards the
video and player rental, and then watch it together crammed in one drawing
room, hoping against all hopes that the local police do not get wind of
the proceedings. Among the elite, open air showings of Indian movies are
not uncommon.

PTV
Serial Parchhaian, adapted from Portrait Of A Lady, is making waves with
charismatic actors Sahira Kazmi, Rahat Kazmi (both seen here) and Talat
Husain